中國人的思維

《Chinese Way of Thinking(中國人的思維)》講述了：When t was a guest speaker in Germany in 1992, I said to the audiencethat the intercultural communication between East and West is notproportionately at the same level. For a Chinese professor or universitystudent in general can provide a name list of more than a hundred well-known figures in the Western history. Then, how many of the Chinesecounterparts from antiquity to the present could a German professor oruniversity student at large possibly know？ No more than a dozen, I guess.There are of course exceptions among the faculty members and students inthe departments of Sinology who surely know more. How come it is so？ Inmy opinion, it is mainly due to the fact that China has been in a passiveposition or under attack since the advent of the modern era, thus bearinga kind of eagerness to look into and learn from the West. In contrast, theWest has been in an active position, having far less need to know Chinabecause her existence would matter little to the Western mentality in thepast century or so. Such a situation corresponds more or less to that in the18th century when China assumed herself to be the center of the world andfelt no need to take any look at the West.

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